I finally believed the hype about those expensive chef's knives

For twenty years I used a $15 kitchen knife from the grocery store and thought anyone spending over $100 on one was crazy. Then my brother-in-law let me use his Japanese carbon steel blade to slice a tomato last Thanksgiving, and it went through like butter without even pressing down. Am I the only one who resisted upgrading something for years and then instantly regretted all the time I spent with the cheap version?

3 comments

3 Comments

spencer_coleman3d ago

Buy a good sharpening stone and learn how to use it first. That cheap Walmart knife cuts like a dream if you actually maintain it. But yeah, once you feel that Japanese steel slice through a tomato with zero effort, it's HARD to go back. The expensive knives do make cooking way more fun, I won't lie about that.

the_thea4d ago

My buddy who cooks for a living said the same thing for years. He finally got a good chef's knife as a gift and told me it changed how he preps everything. Said the cheap ones dull out fast and you end up fighting the food instead of cutting it.

jason_lewis33d ago

Ngl, I'm gonna push back on this one hard. I've been using the same $12 Walmart knife for like 8 years now and I honestly think people just get caught up in the hype. My cheap blade still cuts through tomatoes fine, you just gotta keep it sharp with a basic sharpener once in a while. And the thing about expensive knives is they're so delicate - you can't just toss them in the dishwasher or bang them on a cutting board like you can with a beater. Plus when my cheap knife finally chips or gets messed up, I'm out 15 bucks instead of feeling like I ruined some fancy tool that cost me a whole paycheck.